Modesto, W 10-6
Just when it looked as though Tyler Matzek was on the road to progress, he failed to make it out the first inning without doing damage to his team. Look at what happened:
Walk
Walk
Single
Double
Walk
Wild pitch
Ground out
Single
Stolen base
Walk
Swinging strikeout
Called strikeout
Night over
After the game ended, Nuts manager Jerry Weinstein said (via the Modesto Bee):
"I don't think there are any great concerns there," Weinstein said. "He's a young pitcher and he's going through the process. There are going to be peaks and valleys and as long as he's committed and trusting his pitches, we're good."
Uh, all right.
But the offense showed up in this game, including six doubles, two triples, and a home run. Kiel Roling had had a two-run blast in the first inning and Josh Rutledge hit two doubles. Leuris Gomez picked up the win with four innings of two-run ball.
The Springs, W 9-6
The Sky Sox used a six-run eighth inning to overcome a 6-3 deficit. Chris Nelson capped that inning with a line drive double to right field for three RBI. Brad Emaus drove in two on a single and Matt Pagnozzi plated the other run.
Eric Young Jr. had an RBI triple in the fifth and scored on the same play as a result of a Brandon Belt throwing error. In the following inning, Mike Jacobs tripled and scored on a Matt Macri single.
Greg Reynolds started the game and ran into troubled when a couple of doubles and a few singles put four on the board for Fresno. He allowed two more in the seventh, though one scored when Eric Stults entered the game. Reynolds final line: 6.1 IP, 11 H, 6 R, 3 BB, 1 K.
Tulsa, W 4-2
Right fielder Mike Daniel had what turned into the game-winning hit when he hit his first homer of the season, a two-run shot in the second inning. Tim Wheeler doubled in Thomas Field in the seventh for an insurance run (Wheeler scored the first run of the game in the first inning after he doubled, moved to third on a fly out, and then scored on a Ben Paulsen ground out).
Rob Scahill allowed two runs in six innings, walking three and striking out four. He had a 7-1 GO-FO. Keith Weiser and Dustin Molleken kept Arkansas off the board, the former allowing the only hit over the last three innings.
Asheville, W 10-2
Corey Dickerson demonstrated the big bat on Thursday night with two solo home runs and two doubles in four at-bats (three runs scored). He was named Baseball America's Prospect Hitter of the Day. Helder Velazquez also came up big with a 2-for-4 night with five RBI. He had a double and a three-run homer. Joey Wong went 4-for-4 with two runs scored, a double and two RBI.
Josh Hungerman relieved Josh Mueller after three innings and went on to strike out six in four innings.